Trump’s Voting Plan Raises Constitutional Questions (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: President Trump says he has big plans to change the way America votes, but are they constitutional? He says he wants to nationalize the vote, take control away from the states.

[00:00:10] Speaker 2: Many, 15 places, the Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.

[00:00:15] Speaker 1: But the problem is, here's what the Constitution actually says. Check this out. Article 1, Section 4. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof. Congress can make laws that determine how people vote, but not the president, not the executive branch at all. They're not mentioned in this part of the Constitution, and that's really key. At the White House, spokeswoman Caroline Levitt said, well, that's what the president meant, that Congress should look at this.

[00:00:49] Speaker 3: What the president was referring to is the SAVE Act, which is a huge, common-sense piece of legislation that Republicans have supported, that President Trump is committed to signing into law during his term. And he spoke with the speaker directly about that yesterday, about the need to get that bill on the floor for a vote.

[00:01:07] Speaker 1: But this is one of those examples of not just listening to what the president is saying, but watching what the Trump administration is actually trying to do here. For months, the Trump Department of Justice has been trying to get voter information from states. And 24 states said, no, we're not going to give you voter information. We're talking about Social Security numbers, driver's licenses. And now the DOJ is suing to get that. So you have to ask, why do they want it? There is significant concern that the administration will use that data to try to supersede or at least sow doubt in November's elections, the midterm elections. And that would especially happen if the Democrats win back control of either the House or the Senate. So far, federal judges have been pushing back, siding with the states refusing to give up this data. But you remember what happened in 2020 when federal judges ruled against the president. It didn't stop him.

[00:02:09] Speaker 4: Make no mistake, this election was stolen from you, from me, and from the country. This election was rigged. They rigged the presidential election in 2020. It was a rigged election.

[00:02:21] Speaker 1: Which is why in this instance, at this time, it is really important that when the president says fantastical things, to take it seriously.